Vice President Biden Visits Vermont To Campaign For Shumlin

(Host)
Vermont's major party candidates for governor spent the final
day of their campaigns running hard.

Brian
Dubie completed a tour of the state that, over the past four days, has taken
him to three dozen towns.

Peter
Shumlin turned out his party's best-known names to help boost turnout.

We
have two reports tonight.

First,
as VPR's John Dillon explains, Shumlin's highest-profile backer on
Monday was Vice President Joe Biden.

(Crowd) "Peter! Peter! Peter!"

(Dillon)
The crowd at the University of Vermont field house was on its feet and stomping in appreciation. So maybe you
couldn't blame Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin for getting a
little carried away with the moment.

(Shumlin) "And I cannot tell you
what an honor it is to have the President of the United
States bless Vermont with his
presence today!!"

(Dillon)
Shumlin quickly recovered and introduced the vice president, Joe Biden. But before he
relinquished the stage, Shumlin touched on the negative tone of the campaign.

One
of the Republican campaign ads mentions a speeding ticket Shumlin got during
the primary. That provided an opening for a Shumlin one-liner.

(Shumlin) "I ask you this how many of you in this room,
and have gotten a speeding ticket, pleaded guilty and paid it, raise your
hands. Look at that. Wow! Do not run for governor against Brian Dubie."

(Dillon)
The vice president's speech was both personal and political. He said that in
1972 - after his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident he almost
relinquished his Senate career to move to Vermont. He said elders of the Senate convinced him to stay.

Biden
touched on his own father's history of financial struggles and the broader challenges
facing today's middle class.

But
mostly, Biden offered a full-throated defense of Democratic policy initiatives
of the last two years, including the stimulus package and health care reform.

(Biden) "Folks, we've made a lot of
progress, we've got a long way to go but people like Peter's opponent, proud
George W. Bush Republicans, literally want to undo it all."

(Biden) "What's Peter's opponent
talking about? He says he wants to give what amounts to - I'm told, I'm not
expert on the Vermont budget - but $250 million to the top 1 percent, roughly
1,400 people in the state of Vermont.."

(Dillon)
The crowd leaving the UVM field house included older voters and students. Ellen Holmes-Henry came drove down from
Fletcher to hear the vice president and was one of the first in line to see him.

(Holmes) "I thought it was
way just amazing. It was really moving. The woman next to me was crying,
because she had lost her house to foreclosure. I mean it really hit home. He's
a really good speaker."

Shumlin
and other Democrats hope early voters like Holmes-Henry and others will be galvanized
by the last minute rally - and will provide the margin for victory on election
day.